| Issue | #5 |
| Published | September 1959 |
| Frequency | bi-monthly |
| Cover Price | 0.10 USD |
| Pages | 36 |
| Editing | Stan Lee |
| Notes | Distributed to newstands in May 1959. This issue includes 10 pages of paid advertisements. All new stories in this issue are narrated in the first person. Distribution date from Joseph Marek's Marvel Comics Group history website. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Pencils | Jack Kirby |
| Inks | Christopher Rule |
| Reprinted | in Where Monsters Dwell (Marvel, 1970 series) #24 (October 1973); in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #1 (2006) |
| Synopsis | A pilot crash lands on Easter Island where he observes the statues rise out of the ground and discuss invasion plans of their home planet and the enslavement of Earthmen. He flees the pursuit of the statues and attempts to warn the proper authorities, but no one believes him. Eventually he begins to doubt his story as well, and unobserved, the statues who had been following him return to Easter island safe in the knowledge that no one would believe such an outlandish tale. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Pencils | Jack Kirby |
| Inks | Christopher Rule |
| Notes | Job number from Dr. Michael J. Vassallo via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. |
| Reprinted | in Where Monsters Dwell (Marvel, 1970 series) #24 (October 1973); in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #1 (2006) |
| Characters | Ned Carter; Mr. Jonas |
| Synopsis | A disgruntled janitor's obsessive effort to create a sweeping robot costs him his job and ends in failure, but only because he sees no use for a perpetual motion machine. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | Text story with illustration. |
| Reprinted | from Uncanny Tales (Marvel, 1952 series) #32 (June 1955) |
| Characters | Krag |
| Synopsis | An alien race sends a scout to Earth prior to their invasion, but when he investigates a mysterious space ship he is trapped and crushed, as the ship is actually a living being. The aliens believe he has been captured and call off the invasion. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Pencils | Joe Sinnott (signed) |
| Inks | Joe Sinnott (signed) |
| Notes | Job number from Dr. Michael J. Vassallo via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. |
| Reprinted | in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #1 (2006) |
| Characters | Willy Adams |
| Synopsis | A burglar steals a golden camera that takes pictures of tomorrow. He uses it to get information on the stock market and horse races, but when he photographs himself he realizes that he has no tomorrow. |
| Genre | occult |
| Pencils | Don Heck |
| Inks | Don Heck |
| Notes | Job number from Dr. Michael J. Vassallo via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. |
| Reprinted | in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #1 (2006) |
| Characters | Joe Baxter; Spencer Worthington |
| Synopsis | An assistant at a record store devises a sound that will make a person unconscious, planning to use it to rob a wealthy customer. When the man doesn't pass out the crook thinks he failed, not knowing that the customer was deaf, and only bought records for his wife. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Pencils | Al Williamson (signed) |
| Inks | Al Williamson (signed) |
| Notes | Job number from Dr. Michael J. Vassallo via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. |
| Reprinted | in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #1 (2006) |
| Characters | Tim Korey |
| Synopsis | A space pilot visits a nearby planet, but finds that it is inhabited by giants, and so is too dangerous. He gets away, happy that his own universe is too tiny for the inhabitants of Earth to see it. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Pencils | Steve Ditko (signed) |
| Inks | Steve Ditko (signed) |
| Notes | Job number from Dr. Michael J. Vassallo via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. This story is similar to "The Changeling", drawn by Jack Kirby, in Tales of Suspense #23. |
| Reprinted | in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #1 (2006) |